The girl with two souls
by squid-rings
Summary: The Akatsuki are finally nearing their goal. They have finally captured 8 of the tailed beasts and the kyuubi inside Naruto is the only one they have left to capture. However, for the Akatsuki to be able to control all of the bijuu, they need to find HER
1. This means war

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto..**

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**At the Akatsuki base**

"So Itachi failed.." the man with a Venus flytrap enveloping his head stated.

"Apparently, the younger Uchiha has killed him... yeah" answered the person with a mouth on his hand.

"Is that so?" the man replied "No matter, with eight of the tailed beasts in our hands, our goal will soon be accomplished."

"But, what about the nine-tailed beast? and **_her_**?" questioned a man with the mouth on his hand "We haven't even located _her _yet... yeah"

The man with the venus flytrap enveloping his head stared at his companion for a while and then replied "As it turns out.. _**you**_ have already met _**her**_."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**In Konoha**

"Naruto BAKA!!" an angry pink haired kunoichi screamed. "It's not what you think Sakura-chan!! I swear!!" A blonde haired boy screamed back as he was running for his dear life, away from the angry kunoichi.

"Prepare to die Naruto!" screamed the angry kunoichi as she pumped chakra to her feet and ran at a faster rate than before. "I was just training Sakura-chan!! believe me!!" the blonde yelled while barely dodging the chakra filled fist of the angry kunoichi.

"Training my foot?! What the hell does that have to do with my bra?!"

**FLASHBACK**

_"Listen carefully Naruto, this special training that were going to do today will test most of your ninja skills!!" said a white haired man._

_"EH? Ero-sennin?! What is it?!!" questioned the hyperactive blonde as his eyes suddenly turned star-shaped. "Are you going to teach me a super duper new technique?!!" the blonde screamed at his mentor as the stars in his eyes twinkled._

_"Ehehe.. not quite, I was actually going to test your stealth skills.." replied the white-haired man. The blonde boy's face dropped in disappointment and said "Eh Ero-sennin, that's stupid.. Do you doubt the skills of the future Hokage?!! Stealth?! I've already learned that upon starting as a ninja.." the blonde haired boy then pouted and crossed his arms on his chest._

_"Ohohoho!! But this is a 'special' training my boy!! If you fail this stealth test, you probably would barely escape with your life!!" said the white haired man as he stroked his chin. "So boy are you up for it?! Or are you scared to die?!"_

_"What?! Of course not!! I'm not going to die until I become the Hokage!! Let's do this!!" the blond haired boy replied as he pumped his fist into the air._

_"Good, good, now Naruto, I need you to retrieve a special item for me.. To be able to do this you need to be extra stealthy.." the white haired man said as he gave the boy a serious look. "A special item eh? so what is it?!" asked the eager blonde as he jumped up and down like an overly excited kid. The white haired man grinned wickedly at him and whispered something to his ear.  
_

**END FLASHBACK**

"Damn Ero-sennin, I should've never agreed to his 'special' training" the blonde muttered to himself. "How was I supposed to know that this was the 'special' item.. "

Just then as he was thinking to himself, the angry kunoichi appered in front of him, her eyes had flames in them and a killing aura was surrounding her. Naruto, who was too distracted by cursing the Ero-sennin in his mind, didn't even realize that she was directly in front of him until a fist connected to his face and sent him flying to the other end of Konoha, right where his current object of hatred was sitting peacefully.

**-Crrraaaassshhh-**

"Oh Naruto! Didn't I tell you that if you fail this stealth test you would probably barely escape with your life? Tsk tsk.. Hate to say I told you so.." the white haired man said as he rose from his seat and took what the boy was holding.

"Damn you ero-sennin!" the boy muttered before he fell unconscious due to the impact of his fall and strong punch he received.

The white haired man just laughed and examined the piece of underwear that he was holding. "I knew I was right about Sakura's cup size!!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**The Hokage Tower**

"You called for me Hokage-sama?" a silver haired man asked as he entered the Hokage's office. The blonde haired woman, who had her hair in pigtails looked up from the stacks of scrolls and papers around her desk and spotted the masked jounin in her office. She gestured for the man to be seated in one of the chairs in front of her desk. As the man was seated, the Hokage then spoke to him

"Kakashi, as you may have been informed by Jiraiya, the Akatsuki has eight of the tailed beasts in their hands." the Hokage said with a seriuos look on her face. "And we all know what they're after next.."

"Naruto.." the silver haired ninja finished for her.

"Yes." the Hokage then let out a frustrated sigh and spoke again "As we all know, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. And they are prepared to attack Konoha if necessary." Again she let out a frustrated sigh and reached for a bottle of sake near her desk. After she was done drinking half of the contents of the bottle she spoke again. " We need to prepare for war with the Akatsuki.."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

**A/N : This is.. well kind of short.. but I still hope you like it though..**

** not much happening here.. but the serious stuff starts at chapter 2.. :D**

** Yeah.. hope you like this one.. It's my first fanfic.. :D**


	2. Here already?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto, if I did, I probably wouldn't be writing here.. : 

_inner thoughts.._

**-RECAP-**

_"Yes." the Hokage then let out a frustrated sigh and spoke again "As we all know, they will stop at nothing to get what they want. And they are prepared to attack Konoha if necessary." Again she let out a frustrated sigh and reached for a bottle of sake near her desk. After she was done drinking half of the contents of the bottle she spoke again. " We need to prepare for war with the Akatsuki.."_

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The masked jounin stared carefully at the woman in front of him. He knew that she was not kidding, he knew that she was not drunk from all that sake that she drank. He knew that she was dead serious with what she just told him. And he knew that she was right. He stared at her and then sighed.

"Kakashi, we can not hand them Naruto. You know that. We can not hide him, he'll just come after them himself, the stubborn brat. We have no choice.. We have to fight." the blonde Hokage said as she felt a major headache coming and began rubbing her temples.

"I know that Hokage-sama.." the silver haired man replied "But when do you think will the Akatsuki start their move?"

Tsunade didn't really know the answer to this question but inferring from the information she knows about the Akatsuki she replied with a 'Soon.  
She knew that she was being vague, but then again, that was the most appropriate answer she could give him. She knew that the Akatsuki were constantly on the move and since they're nearing their goal, it seemed stupid for them to just suddenly stop and take a break. No, they wouldn't do that. They had the momentum now, stopping will only cause their momentum to falter, and obviously they didn't want that to happen.

"It may be a few weeks from now, hell, maybe earlier. I really am not that sure. We're still waiting for the reports of our spies about the matter." the Hokage added as she then finished off what was left of her sake. She was about to speak again but an ANBU member suddenly came bursting into her office.

Tsunade let out a sigh and eyed the ANBU that was now approaching her. She wanted to know just what the hell was that important that he didn't even bother knocking on the door?

As if reading her mind, the ANBU spoke up "I am very sorry for disturbing you like this and barging into your office like that Hokage-sama, but I have urgent news, an Akatsuki member was spotted near the village!"

_Well that was earlier than expected._

Hearing the news, Tsunade suddenly straightened out her posture and gave the ANBU a serious look. "How many are they?" she asked

"We believe that there is only one Akatsuki member. Currently, some ANBU are trying to track him." the ANBU replied.

"I see.." the blonde then turned her attention to the masked ninja beside the ANBU member and spoke to him. "Kakashi, warn your team including the Uchiha, I want you to keep an eye on Naruto. I'll call for you later after I talk with other ANBU members."

"Hai Hokage-sama" replied the silver haired man as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Near one of the training grounds of Konoha a black haired ninja was peacefully drawing the scenery in front of him. He was nearly done with his drawing when something threw off his concentration, and caused him to make a wrong stroke. He looked behind him and saw his pink haired teammate. He could clearly see that she was really pissed off, and him being Sai, really didn't care if he pissed her even more.

The pink haired kunoichi was stomping her way towards the training grounds. She was stilled pissed at Naruto for stealing her bra and calling it 'training', and so she wanted to go the training grounds to vent off her anger. It sounded like a good idea to her. After all, with this she would be able to kill two birds with one stone. She could vent off her anger and train to get stronger at the same time.

_Stupid Naruto_ the kunoichi thought to herself. _How could stealing somebody's bra be training? Jiraiya has really poisoned his mind. Stupid pervs_

As she was thinking to herself, she failed to notice her teammate directly in front of her until he spoke up and nearly startling her.

"Eh? Ugly what's the matter? You saw yourself in the mirror? Tsk tsk.. I told you to smash all your mirrors already.." the black haired ninja said as he was trying clean up the mistake in his drawing. He then looked up and spoke again "You look uglier than usual.. but then again, you're always ugly."

**twitch.**

_Ignore the temptation Sakura.. You don't want to kill a teammate now do you? But then again, evil grasses are hard to kill._

An idea suddenly popped into Sakura's mind, and she inwardly congratulated herself for being such a genius.

**smirk **

She then approached Sai with a genuine smile plastered on her face and bent down close to him. "Hey Sai, how about we spar?" she asked with a very cheery tone.

Sai looked up the girl and asked "Are you sure ugly? I don't want to hit you and make you even uglier. Ahhk.. you're ugly enough.."

**twitch.  
twitch.**

_Calm down, just calm down. Breathe.. breathe.. okay! He can pay for that comment later._

"Don't worry I'll manage." she said with a smile still plastered on her face. (Although you could clearly see that her left eyebrow was twitching.)

"Fine." the black haired boy replied and stood up. "Let's go then."

And with that they both proceeded to the training grounds. Once there, Sakura started stretching a bit and warming herself up, while Sai just stared at her uninterestingly. He failed to notice though the evil glint in the eyes of the pink haired kunoichi that he was about to fight.

"Ugly, you're taking too long.." the black haired artist said with a bored look on his face.

_Wow, he's in a hurry to die now isn't he?_

Sakura just smiled and said "Okay then, let's start.."

_Hello misplaced aggression_

**smirk **

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A raven haired male was making his way to the training grounds that his former team usually trained on. He had nothing else to do after all. Staying at home was out of the question, it only reminded him of his clan's murder and how he was the only Uchiha left. Talking to other people was definitely not on his to do list, since he doesn't talk very much plus other people annoy him. And well, he couldn't go on any missions, since he's still under probation for his betrayal and all. He sure had a boring life, not that he cared anyway.

As he approached the training ground, he heard the sound of the ground crumbling. Being the genius that he was, he knew that there were some people already training where he wanted to train. He was about to head to another location when his eyes caught sight of a black haired male and a pink haired female.

He knew for a fact that the black haired male was his replacement in team 7, and the girl with the pink hair was obviously his former teammate. He wanted to see what his so-called replacement was really capable of, so he stayed there and watch their sparring session.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sai drew a tiger on his scroll and it immediately came to life and attacked Sakura. Its movements were really fast, and it managed to land scratches on her body. The scratches she received were only minor injuries since she was able to dodge most of his lethal attacks.

She was able to defeat some of Sai's drawings which included two lions and a few ink clones of himself. However this left her almost drained in chakra.  
Sakura knew that only dodging his attacks would lead to nothing but exhaustion, so she decided to fight head on with Sai's tiger and planned to land a chakra filled fist at it.

Before she could land the punch, the tiger disappeared and Sai reappeared behind her.

Sai kicked Sakura from behind, but only heard a 'poof' sound signaling that it was only a shadow clone.

He sensed that the real Sakura was above him, and as he realized this, he saw that she was already descending towards him and is aiming one of her strong punches at him. He was quick to react however that Sakura's fist only made contact with the ground that he was previously standing on, leaving a huge crater.

The impact of the punch was so strong that it was as if an earthquake had occurred and caused the ground to crumble. It also caused Sai to be blown away, crashing into a nearby tree and nearly breaking it in half.

Sai however immediately stood up, as if nothing happened and began to draw again. This time he created a dragon and like the tiger, it came to life and attacked Sakura. Again, Sakura was back to dodging Sai's attacks as she was once again waiting for another opening.

Sai made another drawing, this time of a bird, and rode on it. The bird then flew and from above, Sai observed the pink haired kunoichi as she dodged his attacks. He knew that Sakura was capable of dodging attacks effectively; after all, Tsunade did train her to do that. And with her dodging most of his attack, only causes him to waste his chakra. He then began to think of a way to stop her from dodging and to make her stand still. Suddenly an idea hit him and he decided to try it.

Sai stepped off from the bird that he was riding on and it immediately disappeared. The dragon he drew earlier that was attacking Sakura also disappeared. He now stood a few yards from her with a smirk plastered on his face.

The young Uchiha saw the smirk on Sai's face and began to wonder what the artist nin was planning.

Sakura saw that the dragon attacking her earlier disappear and that Sai was now in front of her. She knew that this was not an ink clone, but the real Sai himself. Like the younger Uchiha, she saw the smirk plastered on the black haired male's face and wondered what he was up to.

Sai then began running towards Sakura at a fast rate, the smirk was still ever present on his face. When Sakura saw what he was doing she mimicked his actions and ran towards Sai.

_So he's going to take me head on is he? Heh, this would be fun._

When they were about a foot and a half from each other Sakura pumped chakra to her fists as she prepared herself to punch him. Sai however only smirked at Sakura. When the gap between them were only a mere inches, Sakura swung her arm in an attempt to punch him, however her fist only met air, since Sai jumped behind her. She immediately turned to face Sai and was suprised to what greeted her.

_WHAT THE HELL? DID HE JUST KISS ME?!_

Sai smirked at the reaction that he got from the kunoichi. He saw that a blush crept up her face and that her eyes were wide. He knew that she was too shocked to move so he took his chance and kicked the kunoichi in the stomach sending her crashing into a tree.

"I knew that would stop you from moving ugly.." Sai said as Sakura glared at him.

"No fair Sai, that was a dirty tactic." Sakura complained as she saw him smirk again.

Sai just shrugged and said "Whatever ugly.. It was effective though."

Sakura was about to retort but a kunai flew in front of her. When she found who threw the kunai, her eyes saw that it was her former teammate. She wondered why he threw the kunai and was about to ask him when the younger Uchiha suddenly spoke up and said "Get out, I know you're hiding in there."

_Who's hiding where? Has he gone crazy?_

"Well, well.. I never knew you could still sense me with my chakra masked and all. I have to say, I'm impressed... yeah" a cloaked figure with a sakkat said as he revealed himself to the three. "I guess I should've expected that from the one who defeated Itachi... yeah"

"Hn." Sasuke and Sai both glared at him and Sakura stared at him in disgust.

"Akatsuki." She spat out.


	3. Didn't I tell you?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.. woe.. :l**

_Inner thoughts_

* * *

-RECAP- 

_Sakura was about to retort but a kunai flew in front of her. When she found who threw the kunai, her eyes saw that it was her former teammate. She wondered why he threw the kunai and was about to ask him when the younger Uchiha suddenly spoke up and said "Get out, I know you're hiding in there."_

_Who's hiding where? Has he gone crazy?_

_"Well, well.. I never knew you could still sense me with my chakra masked and all. I have to say, I'm impressed... yeah" a cloaked figure with a sakkat said as he revealed himself to the three. "I guess I should've expected that from the one who defeated Itachi... yeah"_

_"Hn." Sasuke and Sai both glared at him and Sakura stared at him in disgust._

_"Akatsuki." She spat out._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and clenched her fists. "You came here to get Naruto didn't you?"

The cloaked figure just smirked at her.

"Aren't we a smart one?" he said sarcastically. "But as smart as you may be, you missed something **very important**... yeah"

Sakura just ignored the insult and glared at the man. "You're wasting your time. We won't let him be captured by the likes of you!" She hissed at him.

The Akatsuki member however, just chuckled.

"My, my.. Aren't we being arrogant?" he finally replied . "But what's one little girl going to do?... yeah"

Sakura clenched her fists tighter and was tempted to attack him right then and there. However she refrained from doing so, for she knew that it would not be a wise idea. Sparring with Sai earlier left her almost drained in chakra, and she knew that if she fought with him now, there is no doubt that she'll lose.

"You're talking as if we're not here." Sai interrupted as he eyed the Akatsuki "Ugly here might not be enough for you, but if we fought together, you might not be able to handle us at all." He added.

Sai knew that the Akatsuki were also after Naruto. He knew that there have been several attempts on his capture. Before, he couldn't care less if the Akatsuki captured him, but now, having formed bonds with the Kyuubi holder, he wanted to protect him as well.

The Akatsuki member then turned his attention to the black haired male "Ah I've heard about you... " he said "The artist nin right? ... yeah" _How interesting_, he thought to himself. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble but, no matter what art form you may use against me, I'm afraid that my art is always better." he said and then chuckled. "And even if you worked with the kunoichi, I don't think it would make any difference... yeah"

After hearing such arrogant words Sai and Sakura both intensified their glares at the man and were about to launch at him, however the last Uchiha in the corner of the training ground beat them to it by throwing one of his kunais at the Akatsuki.

Being the S-class criminal that the Akatsuki was, he was able to evade the kunai effortlessly, and it landed on a tree directly behind him.

"So you're joining the fight eh Uchiha?... yeah" he asked as he eyed the young Uchiha.

The youngest Uchiha however just smirked at the unsuspecting Akatsuki member, and no sooner an explosion occurred behind the cloaked figure.

_So there was an explosive tag in that kunai. Hmm.._ The Akatsuki thought. _This is child's play_.

Once again, with the use of his incredible speed and reflexes, the Akatsuki was able to escape the explosion with no scratch on him. However, as he escaped the explosion, his sakkat fell off his head, revealing his identity.

"YOU!" Sakura shouted as she pointed at the now exposed Akatsuki "You're the one who took Gaara!"

The Akatsuki smirked at her.

"How flattering, you remeber me... yeah" he replied, amusement ever present in his voice. "Don't worry, I **remember you too kunoichi**... yeah"

Sakura just glared at his remark and was about to launch herself at him, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.

"Now, now Sakura.. You know that attacking him at your state isn't exactly the best idea." a deep masculine voice said.

Sakura looked up at the man who was holding her back and widened her eyes at what she saw.

"Ahh.. so you've finally come. I was waiting for you to show up... Copy-nin... yeah" said the Akatsuki as he turned his attention to the new comer.

Kakashi just observed the Akatsuki a few feet from him, and recognized him as the Akatsuki who took Gaara. He then turned his attention to his right arm and noted that he got his arm back.

"Oh.. you're wondering about my arm right? yeah.." the blonde Akatsuki said as he noticed the Copy-nin staring at his arm. "Well, Let's just say that I had it repaired.. yeah" he said as he smirked.

Kakashi turned his attention away from the Akatsuki's arm and looked straight into his face. He then smiled beneath his mask and said "Deidara is it? Well, don't worry about that.." He gave him a confident look. "I won't miss this time."

The Copy-nin began to lift his forehead protector to reveal his Sharigan, but as he was doing so, the ground suddenly exploded.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

At the other end of Konoha, a young Chuunin was frantically looking for a Legendary sannin and his student. He was ordered by the Hokage herself to get the Sannin and said student immediately to the her office. Not wanting to piss the Hokage with the super human strength, the Chuunin immediately set out to look for the two.

Meanwhile, the said Sannin was currently sitting on the ground near his unconscious student, admiring the 'special' item (refer to chapter 1) his student got for him. He began to take out a small notebook and began sketching. A big smile was plastered on his face as he gazed upon his 'inspiration'. He smirked remembering his plan of tricking the boy into getting it.

The said boy was still unconscious beside his mentor, and even though he was unconscious, the Sannin could hear him mumble things in the line of 'When I'm Hokage, ramen would be the national food' and 'everyday should be ramen day'.

The Sannin finished his sketches and sighed when he saw that his student would not get up anytime soon. Not wanting to leave the boy alone, he decided to wake him up.

The Chuunin ordered by the Hokage to look for the other Sannin and his student was running at the other end of Konoha. He has been panting heavily, due to the fact that he has been running around the village looking for the two. He heard that the boy was most likely to be found at Ichiraku, happily eating his ramen. While the Sannin would most likely be found where he could peek on unsuspecting girls (though, no one has been able to catch him in the act). He went to Ichiraku first, and was told that the boy was last seen being chased by the very pissed apprentice of the Hokage. The people who saw the chase feared him to be dead by now.

Seeing that there was no point in looking for the boy, he decided to look for the Sannin himself. He was very reluctant to do so because it would mean that he would have to look for him in places like the public bath house or the hot springs. However, the Chuunin feared the Hokage more than the thought of being mistaken as a pervert and so he went on ahead and searched the said places.

The Sannin heard his name being called. He stopped kicking the unconscious boy in front of him and turned his attention to the bloody, beaten and panting Chuunin calling out to him. He raised an eyebrow at the said appearance of the boy, but then decided to just ignore it for the meanwhile. He motioned for the boy to come closer and asked him what it was that he wanted.

"The Hokage -pant- wanted to -pant- see you immediately -pant- in her office -pant-" said the Chuunin as he continued catching his breath.

"Did she tell you what it was about boy?" the Sannin asked.

"No -pant- she didn't -pant- but -pant- she said -pant- to bring -pant- Uzumaki-san -pant-."

_Naruto? So the Akatsuki has finally made their move eh?_

"I see.." the Sannin replied. "I'll be going then.. but tell me boy, what the hell happened to you?"

The Chuunin stopped panting for a while and began to recall the events of earlier that day.

**FLASHBACK**

_**It was obviously not a very good idea to look for the Sannin where girls would most likely be... undressed. For it did not only made him lose a huge amount of blood by having massive nose bleeds, but also had him being chased around by a huge mob of angry girls.**_

_**He was so sure that he was going to die, but fortunately, by some stroke of luck, he was able to lose the mob of angry girls, after a lot of running around the village.**_

_**The seemingly endless chase though left him exhausted and so he decided to rest in a secluded area in the far corner of the village. As he was heading there, he saw a man with white hair, kicking an unconscious blonde while holding what seemed to be a brassiere.**_

**END FLASHBACK**

"Nothing." The chuunin muttered, glaring at the ground.

"Whatever you say then.." the sannin said though very unconvinced by the boy's reply. "We'll be leaving you now.." and with that he took off, hauling the still unconscious Naruto behind him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"What the Hell?!" Sakura screamed as she leapt into a tree branch "The explosions won't stop!"

Sai smirked at the complaining kunoichi "What tired already ugly?" he asked smugly as he dodged another explosion and landed on the ground. "I tired you out that much huh?" he added.

"Shut up Sai!" she screamed as she was still in the air.

"Sai, Sakura, now's not the time." Kakashi scolded "Concentrate on dodging the explosions." he added and then disappeared into the forest near the training grounds.

"Copy-nin, hiding behind those trees won't help... yeah" Deidara said with a bored look "My explosive clay spiders will follow you wherever you go."

And indeed, the tiny explosive spiders did follow them wherever they went, and they continued on exploding upon nearing contact.

_How are we supposed to escape these things?! I can't keep on dodging them for too long. We have to attack him now!_

"Sai!" Sakura screamed as she evaded a few more explosives "Draw the bird you rode on earlier!"

Sai raised an eyebrow at the kunoichi, but soon figured out what she wanted to do. He then began to draw on his scroll, but unfortunately was interrupted when another explosion occurred behind him.

"Ugly, I can't draw properly.. The explosions will mess up my drawing.." he complained as another explosion occurred next to him. "Think of another plan!"

Sakura was already panting heavily, she was dead tired from the spar she had earlier and from dodging the explosions that would not stop following her. She knew that she had no time to think of another plan, for she was already nearing her limit. A few more minutes of dodging and she would pass out from exhaustion. Being a medic nin, she estimated that she would last about ten more minutes of dodging, beyond that time, she would most likely pass out.

"There aren't any more plans!! Don't tell me that you can't get around a few tiny explosions!" She said trying to persuade the artist-nin as she dodged another explosive.

Deidara eyed the kunoichi and smirked.

"Kunoichi, I beg to differ.." he began. "But I don't think my explosions are tiny nor are they few.. yeah" he said as he then gestured for his explosive clay spiders to attack the kunoichi. "But let's see what you think of them now.. yeah.."

At Deidara's signal, all of the tiny explosive clay spiders began to approach the area where the kunoichi was. Sakura's eyes widened after seeing the army of explosive clay spiders approaching her. Her body was already weary from the earlier explosives and she was sure that she could not handle this much.

_Shit! I'm dead now!_

'Shit' was an understatement. Her situation now was way worse than that. She was cornered with numerous explosive clay spiders surrounding her in a radius of about seven feet. There was no escape, she was trapped, tired, and helpless. No one was near her enough to reach her in time and she was so sure she was going to die any second now.

A few seconds passed, and a massive explosion occurred where the kunoichi was standing. The impact was so strong that some of the surrounding trees fell down and a huge hole was left in the ground. There was no sign of the kunoichi anywhere, and at this Deidara began to wonder.

_The explosion was not meant to kill her, just injure her... The impact may be strong on the outer region of the clay spiders, but I made sure that the explosion in the center where she was in, was only strong enough to knock her out. She could not have been blown away, I even used some of my spiders to cover her body and shield her from the impact. So where the hell is her body?!_

Deidara looked around for the kunoichi and tried to sense her chakra. He felt her a few meters behind him, but she was not alone, someone was with her.

"So I see you still care for the kunoichi eh------Uchiha?... yeah" Deidara said as he turned his attention to the glaring Uchiha. "I didn't know you had a soft spot for her... yeah"

"Hn. I could say the same for you." the last Uchiha replied. "The explosion in the area that she was standing on was only strong enough to knock her out and not kill her. Only the explosions beyond 5 meters from her were the really strong ones."

Deidara just stared at him for a while and then said. "Well, it was not my intention to kill the kunoichi you see... yeah" he then smirked at the Uchiha "But I'm not telling you why though... yeah" and at that he began to chuckle.

"So you're after her as well huh?" Kakashi asked suddenly appearing behind the Akatsuki "and may I ask why that is?"

_Tch. I didn't even sense him there.._

Kakashi raised a kunai to the Akatsuki's throat, but a 'poof' sound was heard and the Akatsuki was replaced by a lump of clay. He sensed that the Akatsuki was hovering above them and so turned his attention to the sky.

He then spotted the blonde Akatsuki riding in his clay bird and staring down at them.

"As much as I would like to continue our battle, I'm afraid I can't.. I have some other business to take care of... yeah." he said "But don't worry, we'll see each other again.. And tell the kunoichi, that I'll be back for her... yeah."

The three men glared at him as he made his way out of the village.

Kakashi then turned his attention to Sai and commanded "Sai, draw the bird Sakura was referring to earlier"

Sai didn't even need Kakashi to tell him what to do for he had already started drawing the bird even before Kakashi told him. Once he finished it, he performed some seals and the bird he drew came to life. Kakashi and himself rode on the said bird and went after the Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki smirked as he saw what was trailing behind him. He began to increase his speed and chuckle. "Didn't I tell you that my art is always better? yeah"

Kakashi then smiled beneath his mask and spoke up. "And didn't I tell you **I won't miss this time**?"

* * *

**A/N: If you guys would be so kind enough, please leave some reviews and let me know what you think..**** C:**


	4. Sorry doesn't cut it

**Disclaimer**: Incase you need reminding.. I am not the owner of Naruto..

* * *

-RECAP-

The Akatsuki smirked as he saw what was trailing behind him. He began to increase his speed and chuckle. "Didn't I tell you that my art is always better? yeah"

Kakashi then smiled beneath his mask and spoke up. "And didn't I tell you I won't miss this time?"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

_**'I'm sorry..'**_

_Someone was apologizing to her._

_'Why are you apologizing?' she asked_

_**'I'm sorry..'** the voice repeated again._

_'Why' she asked again 'Who are you anyway?'_

_She heard a sigh._

_**'I am you and you are me, Sakura.'** the silhouette finally replied. **'And for that I am sorry..'**_

_She was confused. Why?, she wanted to ask, but before she could, she was enveloped in a blinding light and was slowly being swallowed by it._

_**'I really am sorry..'**_

_She heard it again._

_**'Really, really sorry..'**_

_And the light finally swallowed her._

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Uhhn. W-What happened?" she asked clutching her aching head "S-Sasuke?" she asked eyeing the raven haired male in front of her.

"You passed out." He said in a monotone. "You were drained of your chakra." he finished with an emotionless face

"I see." she answered as she looked down. _What the hell was that about?_

"Where are the others?" she quickly asked after remembering what happened earlier.

"After the enemy." He answered "You stay here, I'll go after them." he said in a cold voice.

Sakura stared at him for a moment and stood up.

"No." she said. "I'll go with you."

Sasuke glared at her

"You'll just be a burden to us, stay here."

"No." she said and glared right back. "I'll go with you, I must protect Naruto." she said determinedly

"You have almost no chakra left, you'll be weighing us down."

"Damn it Uchiha I said no!" she screamed angrily at him. "If that so bothers you, here."

Sakura then made a series of hand signs that were unfamiliar to the Uchiha, and then grabbed the Uchiha's arm firmly. The next thing they knew, green light covered her entire body.

Sasuke just stared at her with an emotionless face. A second later, he felt some his chakra slowly leaving his body and being transferred into the kunoichi. When he understood what she was doing, he tried to get his arm back, however, with the kunoichi's insane strength, he was unable to do so. He was about to kick her violently, however just as he was about to do so, she let go of his arm. The next thing the Uchiha knew, all the bruises, scratches and any other marks that were previously on the kunoichi were now gone. Not only that but it also seems that her chakra was also replenished.

And to think, this all happened in the span of five seconds.

"Better Uchiha? Well then let's go." Sakura said snapping him out of his thoughts.

_Shishou would surely kill me if she learns what I just did._

Sasuke glared at her again "No." he said firmly "You're not coming with me."

Sakura was appalled. What the hell?!

"What?!" she screamed at him "What the hell is your problem Uchiha?! I'm not weak anymore, and I'm coming along, whether you like it or not!"

"No, you're not." He stated in his cold voice. "And that's final"

And with that he disappeared from where he was standing and reappeared directly behind her.

He then proceeded to knock her out cold like he did the last time, but suddenly stopped when a 'poof' sound was heard and in Sakura's place was a log.

"Damn it" he cursed under his breath.

Sakura aimed a punch at the Uchiha. "I saw that one coming." she said

The Uchiha easily evaded her punch and soon afterwards launched himself at her.

"You can't hit me" he said cockily.

She smirked.

"That may be true but.." she started as she punched the ground "I can try."

The ground erupted violently, and large pieces of rocks and dirt flew in the air. It clouded the Uchiha's vision and so he resorted to activating his sharigan. He tried sensing the girl, however, there were several replicas of her chakra signature. He groaned in frustration and concentrated harder. As he was having an unusually difficult time in locating her, he knew right then that Sakura did not only borrowed his chakra, but somehow tampered with it. With such disturbance in his system, he did not sense that Sakura was already behind him, her hand on his neck, and was about to knock him out her self.

When he did realize, it was too late.

"Have a good nap.." she said before touching the pressure point on his neck.

"Bastard." she finished,

And he dropped to the ground.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"So what's this about Tsunade?" the white haired sannin asked. "Why have you suddenly called us here?"

The Hokage eyed him for a moment and sighed.

"I think we both know why you're here Jiraiya." she answered with a bored tone.

Jiraiya smirked.

"So, I guess we'll just get to the point now, ne?" he said "How many are there?" he asked as he plastered a serious look on his face.

"Just one." the Hokage answered quickly.

"I see.. Have they found him yet?" he asked

"No." The Hokage then let out a frustrated sigh. "At least Naruto's safe." she added as she spotted the blonde boy still unconscious.

The white haired sannin kept quiet for a while and looked as if he was deep in thought.

"Well that's weird." he finally said after a few minutes of silence.

Tsunade raised a questioning brow at him and asked: "What's weird?"

The white haired man sighed.

"If they are after Naruto, how come they didn't even get near him?" he started. "How long ago was the Akatsuki spotted?"

"About three hours ago." Tsunade answered

Jiraiya looked even more troubled after hearing the Hokage's answer.

"If they've been here that long, how come they didn't get that close to him?" he asked. "Surely, it wouldn't be any trouble for an Akatsuki to track Naruto's chakra signature."

Tsunade stared at the man in front of her and took out a sake bottle.

"He must've sensed that you were with him" she argued as she proceeded to take a drink from her sake bottle "He probably didn't want to fight a sannin and a jinchuuriki at the same time."

"That may be true, however, it's the Akatsuki were talking about, I doubt they'll just abandon their attempt because of me."

Tsunade sighed, and glanced up her fellow sannin.

"Well, in any case, I'm glad that they weren't able to accomplish abducting Naruto. That would just be disastrous." she paused "Tell Naruto this when he wakes up, that he is not to go anywhere without you or Kakashi or at least two of his teammates. He will also not be able to go on missions for a while."

"What if he refuses?"

"Tell him his dreams of being Hokage would be just that, a dream."

The white haired man sweat dropped

"Don't you think that's a little too harsh?" he asked "I mean, crushing his dreams?"

"We have no other choice. If we must to resort to such things, we will, to ensure his and the people's safety." she said and glanced at the unconscious boy "I know he'll understand."

The white haired sannin sighed.

"Okay then, you're the Hokage."

Tsunade then propped her elbows on her desk and placed her chin atop her entwined fingers. She then noticed something dangling from the hands of the other sannin, and it caught her immediate attention.

"Jiraiya.." she started " Do tell me what you are holding right there?"

Jiraiya, caught off guard by her question, proceeded to look at the item in his hand.

He then proceeded to laugh nervously.

"Well, haha, Tsunade, I have to, uhhm go train Naruto! yeah! We need to train!" he said nervously, and then proceeded to run away from the Hokage's office, dragging the poor unconscious boy behind him.

"JIRAIYA!!"

(**A/N**: If you don't get what Jiraiya has in his hands, better consult the previous chapters.. if you still don't get it.. well.. I pity you.. hahahaha)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Sai, for how long can you keep this bird flying?" Kakashi asked

"About seven more minutes." the artist nin answered

"Good." Kakashi answered. "Just evade if he attacks." he commanded.

"What are you planning?" the artist nin asked

The Copy-nin however did not reply for he was busy forming a series of hand seals.

The Akatsuki watched with an amused look as the two desperately tried to trail after him.

He took out some explosive clay and molded them into tiny birds. He then did a few hand seals and the tiny birds flew towards the copy-nin and artist-nin.

"Let's see how good this art of yours is... yeah."

About ten clay birds made there way towards the two. Sai however spotted them and immediately took out his scroll.

He then began drawing tiny birds himself and once they came to life, he ordered them to attack the clay birds the Akatsuki deployed. And as the two set of birds clashed, inky explosions occured.

The Akatsuki watched the clashing with a dull look.

"I see you're art has some use after all, however, as I've already mentioned.." he started as he molded another explosive sculpture in his hands. "Mine's better... yeah" and with that, he threw his newly created 'masterpiece' at the two and did a few hand seals, bringing to life a huge clay dragon.

Sai knew that he had to divert the attention of the approaching clay dragon away from Kakashi. He then drew another bird and when it came to life, he left Kakashi and rode the new bird.

With the new ink bird, he flew towards the dragon and drew on his scroll. Two hawks then emerged from it and made their way towards the clay dragon. Once they reached it, they tried clawing it, however, upon contact with the clay, they exploded.

"I don't think that would work... yeah." Deidara pointed out. "The scales of my dragon you see are explosives. They can and will explode upon contact... yeah"

Sai looked at him impassively and began drawing on his scroll again.

This time, five small birds, similar to the ones he used earlier came to life and made their way towards the clay dragon.

"I told you that wouldn't work.." the Akatsuki pointed out again, as the tiny birds exploded, "Don't be stubborn, kid... yeah"

Sai however just smirked at him.

He drew about ten tiny birds and this time, instead of approaching the clay dragon, it approached the Akatsuki.

"Stubborn brat, your birds won't hurt me.." the Akatsuki taunted as he threw his left over clay spiders at the approaching ink birds. "The kunoichi could do better, you're just wasting my time.. yeah." he finished.

Sai smirked again.

"I think you'll have to rethink that statement, why don't you look at your dragon?" he said. "I don't think ugly could do that." he pointed out smugly.

The Akatsuki narrowed his lone eye at the boy and then turned his attention at his clay dragon. As he gazed at his 'masterpiece' he noted that there was no significant changes in it, and thought that the kid was only bluffing.

"It's that all you can do? Bluff? ... yeah" he asked. "How pitiful... yeah"

"I think you should take a better look." Sai interrupted "There might be something you've missed."

The Akatsuki, out of curiosity did as he was told. He glanced up his dragon again and this time, he did notice some changes.

His dragon was falling apart!

_How?!_ he asked himself.. _I don't think he even touched it._

He then noticed something black on the dragon's head. He focused his mechanical eye at the dragon's head and began zooming in on the said location. What he found startled him a bit. It was ink, and it was the one causing his dragon to fall apart.

"I don't know about you, robot eyed freak, but I think my art's destroying yours.." Sai pointed out with a smirk. "Which makes mine better." he added.

The Akatsuki had to hand it to the boy, he did have some brains and some talent. He was able to figure out that the dragon's weakness was it's head. Sure, he knew that as long as he controlled the dragon, it's head would be protected. But that's where the ink birds came in, he thought. They were used as a diversion, not a direct attack.

_I didn't even notice that.._ he mused to himself. _I think it's time to get serious._

After pondering for a bit, the Akatsuki let out a maniacal laugh.

"Don't delude yourself boy.." he started, plastering a serious look on his face. "I guess there's no point in holding back now is there? yeah"  
he then took out a considerable amount of clay from his pouch and began molding it. "I'll show you just how a blast art is."

* * *

A/N: Ahhhh!! Sorry!! I kind of rushed this thing.. :d well, I had lots to do.. Sorry! 


End file.
